How to Build a Better D&D Dragon, According to the People Creating Them

They’re actually within the identify—dragons are to Dungeons & Dragons as, nicely, dungeons are to Dungeons & Dragons. In the various pages of one million monster manuals, there’ll by no means be a creature so iconic and necessary to the fantasy of the tabletop RPG franchise than its monstrous namesake. But what’s it like really bringing them to life? io9 requested the oldsters from Wizards of the Coast simply that.

Dragons are on the thoughts of Wizards of the Coast’s RPG sequence greater than common as of late, which is saying one thing, all issues thought-about. In D&D’s Fifth Edition—which began off all these years again with a battle in opposition to Tiamat in the Tyranny of Dragons journey sequence—the current launch of Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons supplied gamers and dungeon masters with a plethora of latest lore and guidelines to include draconic parts into their tales, from taking part in their descendants in new sorts of Dragonborn, to only how magically bizarre a pile of Dragon Lair loot can really get.

Meanwhile earlier this month, the D&D MMORPG Neverwinter kicked off a brand new season of content material known as Echoes of Prophecy, tasking adventurers with uncovering the thriller behind the return of a shadowy, undead-dragon-loving order, the Cult of the Dragon. With the second a part of Echoes of Prophecy set to hit Neverwinter in the present day, and Fizban’s Treasury on cabinets, io9 spoke to D&D Game Designer and Fizban’s Treasury co-author James Wyatt, and Neverwinter Lead Designer Randy Mosiondz, to ask a easy query (or six): what goes into making a Dungeons & Dragons Dragon?

James Whitbrook, io9: As a author, mechanically or creatively, the place do you begin ideating when creating a brand new dragon for D&D?

James Wyatt: For all the brand new monsters on this ebook, the place to begin was at all times type of the core nugget of the creature’s identification: “a beholderkin created when a beholder dreams about dragons” turned the eyedrake; “moonstone dragon from second edition, with Feywild connection” was the place to begin for the moonstone dragon. We need new monsters to really feel like they’ve at all times been part of the world—until their sudden arrival on the planet is a key component of their story! Often which means linking them to present monsters in an fascinating means (like with the eyedrake or the elder mind dragon) or giving them a transparent place within the cosmology of the D&D multiverse (like placing the moonstone dragon within the Feywild).

io9: Fizban’s is including in a variety of additional lore and taste for draconic design in 5E. What’s been essentially the most thrilling factor for you and the writing staff to iterate on on this new launch?

Wyatt: The factor I’m most enthusiastic about is the way in which Fizban’s ties dragons to the story of the Material Plane and actually emphasizes that the setting of D&D is a multiverse. We discover the nebulous bonds that hyperlink every dragon to its “echoes” on different worlds of the Material Plane, and what occurs when historic dragons exploit these bonds and start to fuse their echoes collectively into a brand new, super-powerful type. I’m actually drawn to fantasy that explores parallel realities, locations that exist in a number of worlds directly, and journey between worlds, so this facet of the ebook is de facto thrilling to me.

io9: Dragons will be large, large encounters for a tabletop celebration. What does the WOTC staff strive to remember in navigating the size of creatures like dragons when writing new guidelines round them, as main characters in campaigns, or simply as a part of the D&D monster guide lexicon?

Wyatt: The trick in fight encounters is ensuring we don’t overwhelm the Dungeon Master! Dragons will be fairly advanced, and we needed to discover a spread of choices on this ebook with out making the DM’s job not possible. For that motive, the brand new mechanical choices for present dragons are fairly minimal. There’s some easy traits and actions you may add to a dragon’s stat block, there’s some further lair and legendary actions you may add or swap in, there’s some choices for dragon spellcasting. But these additions are all fairly low-impact.

What’s extra fascinating to my thoughts are the methods we tried to assist DMs deliver dragons to life throughout an encounter. There’s a variety of area dedicated to roleplaying dragons, growing their personalities and objectives and such, so the DM can have a clearer thought of who this monumental draconic particular person is and what the dragon is considering. There’s additionally a desk of encounter problems that may assist brighten up a single combat with a dragon, with entries starting from “the dragon really isn’t particularly interested in fighting” to “the dragon loves combat and appreciates the cool tricks the players are pulling off!”

io9: Dragons in D&D are extra than simply fights although—how do you go about speaking Dragons’ affect on the planet of D&D to gamers past fight with them?

Wyatt: We spent a variety of time on this ebook exploring journey hooks which may deliver characters into contact with a dragon—which could or won’t ever contain combating that dragon. We discuss in regards to the sorts of organizations that dragons type with their very own sort and the methods they work together with followers or minions. And we spend a few pages discussing ways in which DMs can construct a whole world or marketing campaign story round dragons, impressed by settings like Dragonlance, Council of Wyrms, and the Tarkir setting from Magic: The Gathering.

io9: They’re in the secret, however what is it in regards to the fantasy of a dragon particularly that’s so resonant to the world of RPGs?

Wyatt: I’ve been serious about this loads, and I’m nonetheless unsure I’ve an excellent reply. I know at a deep and resonant degree that nothing says “the kind of fantasy I’m interested in” like a dragon. Maybe it’s the lingering affect of The Hobbit, which I learn after I was in about third grade (and watched on tv in 1977). But I believe it’s deeper than that. Dragons present up in myths and legends as {powerful} forces of chaos, because the embodiment of greed, as metaphors for the oppressive energy of empire, as tremendously historic powers, and as transcendent spirits of knowledge, and all of these archetypes present up in fantasy typically—and in D&D particularly. Slaying a dragon is just like the quintessential act of heroism. I believe there’s a deep mythic resonance there that’s on the coronary heart of what makes fantasy such a robust name to our creativeness.

io9: Walk me by the method of designing a serious encounter in opposition to a creature like Tiamat or Vilithrax for Neverwinter. Is there something totally different the staff considers when gamers are going up in opposition to a dragon in comparison with different main fights within the recreation in these phases of ideation?

Randy Mosiondz: Part of it’s contemplating the function dragons play within the setting. Dragons are among the heavy hitters in Dungeons & Dragons. They’re extra than simply rampaging beasts: they’re very long-lived and crafty creatures, who very like people, accumulate wealth and allies over time, which makes all of them the extra {powerful}. So you must take these elements under consideration when designing an encounter with them. You find yourself dealing with the dragon’s allies/minions all through the course of the combat with the dragon, along with no matter particular qualities of the dragon’s lair.

io9: In what methods does Neverwinter’s nature as a digital recreation slightly than the tabletop realm of D&D make it more difficult to include large-scale creatures like dragons as NPCs and enemies?

Mosiondz: One of the elements we now have to think about is the scale of dragons that include age. The 5e dragon age ranges run from wyrmling to historic (and even bigger in Fizban’s). But in an motion recreation like Neverwinter, you must determine a variety of experiential issues like: capsule collision of monsters and the collision of the sector they’re combating in, animation rigs and clipping points, in addition to what melee characters are seeing when they’re up near a dragon and the way dragon assaults are being clearly conveyed to gamers. So we have to preserve the scale of dragons affordable when combating them so we will handle all of these points.

io9: Is there something the Neverwinter staff appears to straight from the tabletop mechanics with regards to encounter design for a draconic enemy?

Mosiondz: We usually have a look at the tabletop supply first when setting up enemies, then strive to determine how that interprets to motion recreation mechanics. In the case of dragons, we’re wanting on the full array of dragon powers, from their uncooked bodily assault capabilities (bites, claw swipes, tail swings, wing buffets) to their breath weapon. We’re additionally growing different dragon options equivalent to spellcasting and polymorphing, which actually reinforces the extra clever points of dragons.

io9: Neverwinter saves a few of its greatest dragon fights for heroic encounters. What makes the dragons stand out in comparison with different kinds of encounter design within the recreation? What are the challenges from a design perspective, past the size of the creature?

Mosiondz: We have dragons as dungeon bosses, too! I believe one of many greatest issues with dragons is giving them the respect they deserve. You’re by no means going to seek out straightforward solo encounter dragons in Neverwinter. You may need a talented participant or {powerful} character that may find yourself taking up dragons solo, however that’s going to be extra the exception than the rule. And with the upcoming dragon updates we’re doing, it’ll make them much more formidable.

io9: Fizban’s is bringing a variety of new taste and mechanical particulars for dragon-related parts in just a few months. What’s been thrilling for the Neverwinter staff in regards to the launch, what do you need to see introduced over into the sport?

Mosiondz: Right now we’re wanting into the best way to make every dragon kind play uniquely from one another. After all, the variations between pink dragons and inexperienced dragons ought to be greater than their breath weapon! We’re additionally delving into extra of the multiversal nature of dragons in a few of our upcoming journey narratives. Lots of thrilling dragon-related content material coming in 2022!

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